Hasta La Ideas

A story-centered approach to collaborative retail

Taking the principles learned from NYC-based start-ups, retail consultant Rachel Shechtman quietly unrolled A Startup Store last night in the shadow of the High Line. “A Startup Store has the point of view of a magazine, but it changes like a gallery and it sells things like a store,” she says. Shechtman calls the concept “transactional storytelling,” placing a narrative at the center of a retail venture. The store will be completely reinvented every four to six weeks, with a different theme guiding every detail.

The first story is “Beta.” Shechtman asks, “If a website can be in beta, then why can’t a store be in beta to work out its kinks?” As workers walked around setting up displays and adjusting light fixtures, the first few customers browsed the selection of goods from five NYC startups. Birchbox, a subscription retailer of beauty products, is displaying their monthly collection with a range of items from both couture and grass-roots brands. Also featured is Quirky, an online community that selects products to invent based on user votes.

Shechtman grew up around trade shows and as a girl wanted to shop for a living like the buyers she met. Six years ago, the idea for this new retail concept was born. A simple conversation with Shechtman essentially offers an education in retail, and she sees a clear path for the future of story-driven consumption. “As people have less time, they want more from their experiences,” she says. Dedicated to crafting new business models and forecasting trends, Shechtman wants to create an experience that is as much about the process as the final product.

In a display case near the back of the store is BaubleBar jewelry’s range of original neckwear. Nearby you can check out the goods from Joor, an online professional matchmaker for designers and retailers. The site is a valuable resource for up-and-coming brands as well as bigger businesses looking to reach boutique audiences.

Shechtman plans to launch a complimentary online shop that, with a fixed name and web address, will ironically have a more permanent feel than the polymorphous brick-and-mortar location.

Until recently, the interior was masked by massive eyes plastered by anonymous artist and TED prize-winner JR. Now, the current exhibition is displayed on modular furniture made from 90% recycled paper by Way Basics, and Mark Kusher of Architizer will curate the furniture of each new installation by matching architects to the theme. The back wall of the space holds artwork from Artspace, an online marketplace for affordable pieces from top contemporary artists.

As the store evolves, a permanent name will be attached and graphic designer and typographer Stefan Sagmeister will provide the logo and branding—a rare treat from an artist who rarely does this kind of commercial work. Each upcoming installation will be underwritten by a brand that fits with the overarching theme. The store launches officially in February as a “Love” story.

Limited-edition clothing pared down in size only

Born in Moscow, Yana Gorbulsky relocated to New York as a child and after developing a love affair with sewing and design, started her signature clothing line Supayana. This year, after several successful seasons making adult apparel for a loyal international client base, she began adapting her collection for a slightly smaller set.

Strongly influenced by vintage style and fabrics, the junior clothing line is quirky and whimsical, with select pieces featuring digitally printed illustrations by artist Sara Guindon and Gorbulsky herself. Not only are all the garments currently made in limited runs to keep them unique and avoid over-saturation, but the designer makes a point to use recycled or eco-friendly materials for all of her locally and ethically made collections.

Pieces range from $22-$49 and can be found exclusively through the Supayana e-shop.

Selected untitled works from skateboarding’s favorite eccentric artist

Wielding pen, paint brush and skateboard, Mark Gonzales has been creating art in many forms for more than 20 years. Gonzales has graced each of his various disciplines with one of the most unique personalities around, gaining recognition within the skateboard community for his endless influence, free-flowing style and unconventional drawings captured on Krooked Skateboards. A presence in the fine art world since the early ’90s, Gonzales has exhibited across Europe, Asia and the Americas. He returns to NYC with his latest collection of untitled paintings and poems, opening at Franklin Parrasch Gallery today, 22 November 2011.

This time around Gonzales has selected a group of work completed over the last year in New York and Paris, from poetry rendered in spray paint on mirrored acrylic surfaces to a series of small scale acrylic paintings on linen canvas. The collection explores notions of love, death and the spiritual occult, often shown through the free association between text and imagery that draws a direct parallel to Gonzales’ lifelong dedication to self published zines.

Although those unfamiliar with his work may be skeptical of the quirky aesthetic, those who dismiss their conventionally critical eye and keep an open mind will discover its depth—an approach that applies to understanding the Gonz in general. His untitled paintings and poems will be on display at Franklin Parrasch Gallery from 22 November 2011 to 7 January 2012. To learn more about the extensive work behind the singular character check his gallery bio online.

Art and design collide in a thought-provoking show that encapsulates the beauty of brotherly collaboration

A project four years in the making, Kin Coda comprises a range of 25 uniquely crafted keepsake boxes, each an assemblage of art by the diverse design collective We-Are-Familia. Since graphic designer Jennifer Garcia began the project in 2007, several of the first 11 boxes have been featured in galleries or snapped up by discerning collectors, debuting at Colette and then coming stateside to Open Space in Beacon, NY and Fountain Art Fair.

For boxes 12-25, We-Are-Familia used damaged furniture from the sustainably-minded Danish brand Fritz Hansen. In order to protect the integrity of their classic designs, Fritz Hansen is forced to destroy a small amount of unusable furniture each season, and when sales director for North America David Obel Rosenkvist heard about the collective’s forward-thinking project, he and his team decided to donate the damaged chairs and tables to Garcia and her team.

Garcia originally started the project to exemplify the synonymous nature of art and design, and has brought her point to life with this second wave of furniture-based conceptual boxes, currently on view at NYC’s Fritz Hansen store. Several notable designers, including David Weeks, Iacoli & McAllister, Kiel Mead, Joe Doucet, UM Project and more, have put their own distinctive twist on the Fritz Hansen furniture, which rounds out the project. Serving as a stimulating foundation for the ingenious designers, the Fritz Hansen furniture takes new shape in works like Chen Chen and Kai Williams’ deconstructed Star Base Swivel Chair in fire engine red, or Nightwood’s rustic Swan chair-turned-“Hunter-Gatherer Chair,” and UM Project’s modern armoire made from Arne Jacobsen Series 7 chairs.

Living up to the We are Familia name, Garcia tells us that when one of the pieces sells—prices top off at $10,000—they all split the profit. It’s with this communal enthusiasm that the designers created the singular keepsakes, each brimming with the works of 40 different artists. The full collection of collaborative creations, combined with the support of Fritz Hansen, perfectly illustrates the familial spirit of the artists’ collective.

Kin Coda will be on display for just a short time at Fritz Hansen, from 17-23 November 2011. To see more of the series, including the original 11 keepsakes, check out the gallery below.

Three standouts from this epic U.K. bike brand are now available in the USA

Best known outside of Europe for their freestyle adapted fixed-gear bicycles, U.K.-based Charge Bikes makes impeccably crafted bikes that are aesthetically and technically superior to most other bikes on the market. Contrary to what the hype may imply, Charge is actually deeply rooted in XC and dirt jump mountain biking, and have since been rapidly tackling the cyclocross scene with a range of impressive rides backed by some of the sport’s best athletes. Previously only sold in the U.K. and Japan, Charge has officially opened distribution in the United States, with bikes launching online and in shops over the following weeks.

New for their 2012 line is the Scissor, a beefed-up replacement of the Plug Freestyler, the bike that earned the brand a cult fixie following over the past five years. The only 29er freestyle fixed-gear on the market available as a complete bike—rather than being sold as a stand alone frameset—this tank was designed with input by fixed gear innovators Tom Lamarche and Ted James to withstand levels of abuse that would otherwise leave a bike in pieces. Using a more forgiving geometry with a longer and lower top tube, Tange Infinity seamless steel-butted tubing and custom laser-cut dropouts, the Scissor is described by Charge as “indestructible, simple and clean.”

After slimming down their fixed-gear line in an effort to broaden brand identity beyond the universal fixie scene, Charge has been pushing their latest achievements in cyclocross design. This is most evident with the line’s crown jewel, the titanium Freezer. This lightweight beast is sold exclusively as a frameset to serve as the backbone for the ultimate cross build. Highlights include a custom-machined headtube for an integrated headset and wishbone seatstays to help absorb canti-brake flex and add mud clearance.

With slightly more relaxed geometry to keep things comfortable and accommodate fenders and racks, the Filter Apex is a slightly tamer version of the Freezer. Currently the only cyclocross ready bike on the market that uses disk brakes, the Filter is a force to be reckoned with both on the course and on the streets. For performance it’s outfitted with SRAM Apex components and for strength it’s built with the finest Tange Prestige steel tubing.

The full line of Charge Bikes for 2012 includes titanium mountain bikes, beautiful urban commuters and a comprehensive range of parts from wheelsets to handlebars to grips. It will all be available to North America through Performance Bicycles in the next six weeks, with the Scissor and Filter Apex selling for $650 and $1350, respectively. Official prices for the Freezer are pending. Find a store near you or head over to Charge Bikes online for more information.